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Thanks
for your note to FEMINIST.COM,
which is much more complicated
to answer than one might have
guessed. For starters, there
is "no one" woman, therefore
there is no way to accurately
say what it means to be a woman
in the 90s compared to the 70s
and 80s.
Generically--or
generally, there are a few conclusions.
Women are clearly in a different
situation than they were twenty
years ago. However, this doesn't
entirely mean a better situation.
For the better, feminism has
changed society to such an extent
that there is at a minimum a
glimmer of understanding that
women are to be valued and respected.
At least one woman has entered
most professions and, thereby,
proving that at least one woman
is capable of doing what men
can do (For instance, be CEOs
or professional athletes or
fire fighters.) However, within
these professions, women still
have to work twice as hard to
be taken half as seriously.
And when they do, on average
they are still only earning
(on average) .75 cents to the
male dollar.
Women
are also pressured to still
have two jobs--one outside the
home--and an unpaid job in the
home. Of course, these are generalizations,
but for the majority of families,
women are still assumed to be
the primary care givers even
when they are working equally
outside the home.
Since 1972, women have had the
right to a legal abortion, but
only to have more and more restrictions
placed on that right to the
extent that it hardly looks
like reproductive freedom.
As
I'm trying to say--yes, women
have made specific gains, but
in response to that there has
been greater pressure to preserve
the hierarchy and thus more
pressue to restrict women from
realizing their equality. I
hope that helps -- good luck
- Amy
P.S. Here's a suggestion for
further answers to your question--think
about what your life is like
in comparison to someone who
was your age 20 years ago. Ask
your mother, an older friend.
—Amy
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